Sheet-type Braille display

The IPMC actuator is soft, flexible and a low voltage drive. Hence, it is very safe for humans. If the IPMC film can be successfully patterned and integrated, and each microactuator strip can be controlled separately, a human-affinity tactile information communication system can be developed. 

This result shows that the generating force and the displacement of this device are sufficient to facilitate reading by the visually impaired. Further, it demonstrates the feasibility of this design, which integrates organic transistors and the IPMC actuators, for realizing Braille sheet displays. 

The issues that remain to be addressed are the readability and stability of the device. The IPMC actuators are usually operated in wet conditions, while organic transistors degrade easily in moisture and/or oxygen. The straightforward approach toward suppressing such degradation is to employ more sophisticated encapsulation techniques. Alternately, the use of the ionic-liquid-gel based polymer actuator technology, which can be operated in ambient air, is an option. 

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Y. Kato, T. Sekitani, M. Takamiya, M. Doi, K. Asaka, T. Sakurai, and T. Someya. Sheet-type Braille displays by integrating organic field-effect transistors and polymeric actuators. leee Transactions on Electron Devices, 54(2) 202-209, Feb 2007. 

Finally, a soft and smart device is fabricated by integrating the IPMC actuator with control and senor units. Recently, organic transistor control and sensor technologies have been developed. Hence, all organic, flexible electromechanical devices can be constructed using the IPMC and an organic transistor. In this chapter, such an example is described as a sheet-type Braille display. 

Figure 6.9 Images of a Braille display (a) the flexible Braille sheet display using IPMC actuator array (b) the device assembly (c) circuit diagram of the Braille sheet display (Reprinted with permission from Kato, Y., Sekitani, T., Takamiya, M. et al. Sheet-Type Braille Displays by Integrating Organic Field-Effect Transistors and Polymeric Actuators, IEEE Trans on Electron. Devices, 54 (2), 202-9. Copyright (2007) IEEE).

Kato, Y., Sekitani, T., Takamiya, M., et al. (2007) Sheet-Type Braille Displays by Integrating Organic Field-Effect Transistors and Polymeric Actuators, IEEE Trans.Electron Devices, 54, 202-209. 

Fig. 3 Sheet-type Braille display based on the IPMC actuators (a) photograph of the Braille display, (b) photograph of one Braille cell eomposed of six dots attached with IPMC actuator films, (c) a cross-sectional illustration of one Braille dot The IPMC actuator is driven by an organic transistor. (Reproduced irom Kato et al. 2007)...

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